DURHAM, N.C. -- The Duke men's basketball is ranked No. 8 overall in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25, extending its consecutive weeks ranked streak to an NCAA-best 97 straight weeks. The Blue Devils have now been ranked in the top 10 of the AP poll in 94 consecutive weeks.

Duke returns 10 letterwinners, including four starters, from last year's team that finished 27-7 overall and 13-3 in ACC play. The Blue Devils are led by the senior trio of Seth Curry, Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee, who combined to average 36.1 points, 17.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game last season.

Duke opens exhibition play on Saturday, Oct. 27 with a home contest against Western Washington and will also play Winston-Salem State on Nov. 1 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Both games will be broadcast by the Blue Devil Network - www.goduke.com/bdn.

The Blue Devils open regular season play on Friday, Oct. 9 against Georgia State. The game is slated to tip-off at 7 p.m. and will be shown on ESPNU. Duke has won 12 straight season openers and 30 of 32 lid-lifters under head coach Mike Krzyzewski.